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Kunchok Tenzin (left) and Okechukwu Onwunli (right)

For a culture and diaspora under rapid change, we look at the role of secular ethics for Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet. Okechukwu Onwunli – Contact‘s writer met with Kunchok Tenzin to speak about his research into secular ethics, supported by Lha Charitable Trust and the Tibet Fund.

Contact: Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself and your work as of recent?
Kunchok: I was a monk when I came to India. I first came to South India from Tibet in 2007, where I studied Buddhist philosophy and epistemology as well as science, maths and English. I studied in the monastery until 2011, when I came to Dharamshala to study at Sarah College for Higher Tibetan Studies.

Contact: How did your research into Secular Ethics begin? Who funded your research?
Kunchok: After my studies at Sarah College, in 2015 I came to the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives where I studied Buddhist Philosophy for three years. This project was launched by Lha and funded by The Tibet Fund USA. In 2018, there was an application and interview process for many candidates to do this research,from there I was chosen. After which I began my research in secular ethics in May 2018.

Contact: What discoveries let you know secular ethics was the right topic for you?
Kunchok: When I first came to India I was very much interested in Tibetan History. During that time, many social problems had come to Tibet, especially in 2006, after the railway from Lhasa to Beijing was built. I could tell, in the markets and malls, people’s behavior had begun to change towards a more materialistic way of thinking. From that time, I became concerned about Tibetan morality. Tibet had no major cultural revolution after Buddhism until the Chinese came and these once stable, core values were beginning to change. It felt like a state of Bardo for Tibetan Society, wandering with no clear path or direction in terms of morality. Then I began considering working on an ethical education system for Tibetans.But first I knew I must understand the root of traditional Tibetan ethical values.

Contact: Why is your area of research important for ordinary people or ordinary Tibetans?
Kunchok: I believe this question is different for developed and developing nations.Secular ethics can be thought of in three major parts, General Morality, Cultivation of Peace of Mind, and Social Problem Solving; something that everyone needs in life. For example, in western countries people may have a good sense of general morality but not this sense of cultivating peace of mind. Whereas eastern nations have less of an issue with the sense of peace of mind, but first we must have foundations of morality. These are things that every person needs.

Contact: What are some real-world applications of secular ethics?
Kunchok: My research is focused on the Tibetan context. First, we must begin simply with education and emotional intelligence. Not talking about good or bad, just the fundamental skill of understanding other people. This ability is in decline in Tibet. We must begin teaching this from a young age alongside mindfulness.

Contact: How does mindfulness help secular ethics?
Kunchok: Mindfulness is fundamental to secular ethics. It helps for general awareness but also social awareness. This will help the application of empathy and compassion.

Contact: What have you found most interesting about your research?
Kunchok: My favorite part was reviewing the history of how the system of Tibetan morality began, around the 7th-10th century CE, and comparing it to what the situation is now. After the Gelug school came [to Tibet], many things changed. Before Buddhism in Tibet, there were some Tibetan moral books or writings about morality. Recently they found letters from a cave near the TAR-China border where many Tibetan writings were found, among them, some writings about only ethics called “Advice from Older Brother to Younger Brother” [translated], uninfluenced by Buddhism or Bon the old religion of Tibet. Really a kind of secular text, these things were very interesting.

Contact: What is the current state or awareness about secular ethics worldwide?
Kunchok: His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote a book Beyond Religion, but it was first called Secular Ethics. His colleagues thought this would not be received well in the west, so this title was changed to Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. I think this shows that we must be careful about the terminology. I don’t think many people know about secular ethics but thanks to books like this I believe it is beginning to change.
When the term “secular ethics” is heard in Tibetan, many people think it is irrelevant to our society, because we already have Buddhism. But now this is starting to change.

Contact: Why is that?
Kunchok: Many outside organisations like Emory University are working together with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to develop secular ethics; that’s why Tibetans are beginning to think this may be something special, making them more curious about these things.

Contact: Were there any major turning points during your research?
Kunchok: When I began researching, I really felt this was a vast arena of study. In order to do research well on secular ethics I needed knowledge about other religions, biology, modern psychology and of course Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan ethics. This was a very inspiring realisation, it made me feel that I could do this until the end of my life.

Contact: Are there any conflicting schools of thought around secular ethics?
Kunchok: His Holiness the Dalai Lama believes that the fundamental idea around secular ethics is that human nature is innately compassionate. Many classical western scholars and philosophers believe that human nature is innately cruel and selfish, Sigmund Freud and Adam Smith for example. This idea about human nature is a point of controversy between secular ethics and many other western philosophies. There is also the debate over whether morality should be based in emotion or purely logic and reason,as in the views of Immanuel Kant. Although I cannot speak for all western philosophy there are some key points of conflict.

Contact: What do you hope to achieve with your research? What’s next?
Kunchok: What I really want to do is increase awareness about secular ethics in Tibet. What I’m thinking now is focusing on Tibetan society as they are separating around the world as well. When many independent ideas about secular ethics can develop, then we can do something. So, I really want to write a book in Tibetan, based on my research; for Tibetans inside and outside Tibet. Then I would like to shift my focus to the western mindset of morality.

Contact: Kunchok, I would like to thank you on behalf of Contact magazine. We look forward to hearing more from you.
Kunchok: I want to say thank you to you, and especially the people who support me at Lha. The former and current directors of Lha who launched this programme and Tibet Fund who supported it. I really hope to achieve good things with the time they invested in me.

** Building on Lha’s Secular Ethics Fellowship earlier this year, we have commissioned a series of articles looking at different aspects of Secular Ethics, leading up to a research project next spring which will look at the education aspects in more depth and at what is happening in the schools in Dharamshala. Look out for our follow up articles in the coming months by Okechukwu, our volunteer who’s interest in Secular Ethics has led to his offer to look at how it is being received in various locations, and how the students and educators feel about its inclusion in the curriculum.